Comcast Business Ethernet Just What the Doctor Ordered for Inspira Health Network

VINELAND, N.J., July 30, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Comcast Business, a unit of Comcast Cable, the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone provider to business and residential customers, today announced that the recently-named Inspira Health Network, which combines South Jersey Healthcare and Underwood-Memorial Hospital, is using Comcast Ethernet services to transfer high-resolution radiology images, internal office communications and documents, and electronic medical records (EMRs). The Ethernet network solution will provide the necessary bandwidth to improve collaboration among physicians across multiple locations, while also paving the way for the healthcare organization to launch new online initiatives that will improve patient care for the local community.

Inspira Health Network combines two of southern New Jersey's premier health care systems – South Jersey Healthcare and Underwood-Memorial Hospital – to offer primary, emergent and specialty care to patients throughout Cumberland, Salem, Gloucester, Atlantic and Camden counties. With more than 5,100 employees and 1,000 medical staff, the organization includes the SJH Regional Medical Center, SJH Elmer Hospital, SJH Bridgeton Health Center, Underwood-Memorial Hospital and dozens of outpatient sites throughout the region. As medical technology evolved and high-resolution radiology images and electronic medical records became part of the hospital's standard operating practices, Inspira needed a network solution that could accommodate the ongoing transfer of these critical, bandwidth-demanding files across each of its facilities and internal data centers – without interrupting workflow.

With its vast network reach and portfolio of Ethernet services, Comcast responded with a network solution that combined several different Ethernet services, including:

Five 1 Gbps Ethernet Private Line connections that now run between four locations: SJH headquarters in Vineland, Bridgeton Hospital, Elmer Hospital and Underwood-Memorial in Woodbury;

11 additional Ethernet Private Line connections with speeds of between 10 and 100 Megabits-per-second (Mbps) to link eight remote sites to Bridgeton Hospital and three remote patient facilities to Elmer Hospital;

Six 6 Mbps Ethernet Private Line over Hybrid Fiber/Coax lines that now connect two remote sites to Elmer Hospital and four to Underwood-Memorial; and

"One of the great things about our Comcast Ethernet services is the ability to reroute our data traffic through a separate private line to access our files from any of our connected locations. This, combined with being able to quickly scale up our bandwidth with a simple phone instead of a site visit, has allowed our doctors and nurses to be more responsive to our patients by having all the information at their fingertips, regardless of location," said Thomas Pacek, vice president and chief information officer for Inspira Health Network. "As we acquire new practices, having a technology partner that can provide us with reliable connectivity, high speeds, and vast network coverage will allow us to continue doing what we need to do as a premier health network."

Inspira Health Network is currently using its Ethernet services as the basis for its Health Information Exchange, an online portal that allows physicians to access a variety of patient and office data, including hospital records, surgery center notes, home health diagnostics, internal files, and more. The organization is testing out a similar portal for its patients as well, which it expects to complete in the coming months.

"Ethernet has become an increasingly popular connectivity solution for many healthcare organizations that are constantly struggling with wanting to improve patient care while still being cognizant of costs, especially as the industry shifts to digital healthcare," said Kevin Conmy, vice president of Comcast Business, Freedom Region. "Comcast has made a number of investments in making its fiber infrastructure broadly available and completely diverse from other networks so that hospitals, physicians' offices and patient care facilities across regionally-dispersed locations can all be connected and benefit from the scalability, reliability and speeds that Ethernet offers."

About Comcast Business

Comcast Business, a unit of Comcast Cable, provides advanced communication solutions to help organizations of all sizes meet their business objectives. Through a modern, advanced network that is backed by 24/7 technical support, Comcast delivers Business Internet, TV and Voice services for cost-effective, simplified communications management.

The Comcast Business Ethernet suite offers high-performance point-to-point and multi-point Ethernet services with the capacity to deliver cloud computing, software-as-a-service, business continuity/disaster recovery and other bandwidth-intensive applications. Comcast Ethernet services are significantly faster than standard T1 lines and other legacy technologies, providing scalable bandwidth from 1 Mbps up to 10 Gigabits-per-second (Gbps) in more than 20 major US markets.

Comcast Cable is the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone provider to businesses and residential customers. Comcast has invested in technology to build an advanced network that delivers among the fastest broadband speeds, and brings customers personalized video, communications and home management offerings. Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and technology company. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.